Set a Guard Over My Mouth, Lord

-

 

“Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”- Psalm 141:3

Psalm 141 is a prayer of David, and in his prayer, he asks God to, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” David recognises that words have the power to change the course of things. The words of our mouth can heal, hurt, build, destroy, bless or curse. For David to live righteously, he prays to God to be the gatekeeper of his mouth.

Sometimes in life, we let our tongue loose and say things that we shouldn’t say. When we get caught up in moments of emotions like excitement, anger and pain, we say things that hurt other people, destroy relationships, and burn bridges that we would at one time need. Once our words go out of our mouths, they can never go back. Psalm 141:3 is a reminder to us to be conscious of what we speak.

When we pray, we should always ask God to help us set guard over our mouths. Not just our mouth, but to set guard over our heart; for what comes out of our mouth flows from the heart. We cannot do this alone; we need Christ in our lives to help us leash our tongue and set guard over our hearts. When we involve Christ, He becomes like the watchman who prevents harmful thoughts from entering our hearts and also hurtful words from escaping our mouths.

Proverbs 21:23 also reminds us that “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” This is a call to spiritual discipline when it comes to the words we speak. Just as we do when serving food to our guests. We first taste the food to know whether if it has the right amount of salt and if the texture and flavour of the food are right. We should do the same when it comes to the words we speak. Before we speak them out to people, we first need to taste them and find out whether they bring healing or not.

The words we speak should heal, comfort, build, bless and express more love and grace. When you don’t know what to say, sometimes wisdom begins with silence. Paul wrote to the Colossians, saying, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt.” We need to choose the right words (life-giving speech) that set the tone of our relationships, families and even generations.

Reflection Thought

When God guards your lips, your mouth becomes a channel of peace, love and truth. Before you speak, it is important that you pause and pray for God to help you filter words that reflect His heart.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your unfailing love. Help us to set guard over our hearts and mouths. May you filter them through your grace so that whatever comes out of it can heal, build, bless, and express more love and truth to others, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WALKING WITH GOD IN EVERY SEASON

-
Image
How Joseph’s Life Reveals God’s Faithfulness Through Every Stage of Our Journey Like the tides of water, life seems to follow the movement of rising and falling. Even as seasons in our lives keep on changing, God doesn’t. He remains faithful in every season. His presence meets us even in the most unlikely and unfamiliar places and in desperate situations. His presence goes with us even when circumstances appear as though we are abandoned, forgotten, and defeated. God is the author of your story, just as He was with Joseph’s. He’s writing new chapters and preparing your breakthroughs, unimagined new opportunities, and restoration. In Genesis 39, Joseph finds himself in unfamiliar circumstances. Being sold as a slave in a foreign land would only indicate that his life was on a downward trend. However, even as the tide turned against him, painting a picture of loneliness, betrayal, and abandonment, he was not alone. Genesis 39:2 reads, “ The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered .” G...
Read more

God Calls, Covers, and Completes

-
Image
" Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus ". -Philippians 1:6 In Nehemiah Chapter Two, we find Nehemiah heavily burdened by the news he received about the city of Jerusalem, whose walls were broken down and gates burned with fire. Nehemiah, still in exile, served as a cupbearer for the Persian king. As he was serving the king with wine, the king noticed that Nehemiah was troubled at heart. Nehemiah told the king about how the city of Jerusalem was in ruins and asked for permission to rebuild it. Not only that, but he also asked for resources to rebuild it. And the king granted his request. The king of Persia could have denied Nehemiah’s request, but instead, he granted it. All these requests were granted to Nehemiah, “ because the gracious hand of my God was on me .” – Nehemiah 2:8. God has a purpose and a mission for each one of us. Even before we realise what His missions for us are, Hi...
Read more

Trust Beyond the Silence

-
Image
  “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. ” – Psalm 13:5 Psalm 13 is one of the shortest psalms of David, and yet a powerful one. In this psalm, three times he asks, ‘ How long? ’ indicating a phase of deep distress and abandonment in his life. He begins this psalm by asking God, “ How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Just as David did, when we are in distress, abandoned, lonely and forgotten. Or when we are in a season of waiting and things seem to move more slowly, we often find ourselves complaining to God with questions like, ‘Why me, LORD? Why do I have to suffer this? How long will I endure this pain and sickness? How long will you let them continue to torment me? When will you look to me with favour? Often, when we don’t have what we need or are not where we should be, we begin to complain, find fault and lose faith in God’s plan. And yet we forget that God is ever faithful, even in momen...
Read more